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A "digital town square" is a race to the bottom, as is the idea that "the solution to bad speech is good speech." Let me know if you'd like to know why.

Sadly for her, our current reality kills her argument in favor of a digital town square. Elon has enabled the con artists, racists, and Nazis to drown out any sort of existence in that town square. And she still chooses Elon’s hate filled universe. That’s why she’s being called out.

British person in America here. She does have a silly British name. Her references suck shit too.

The most important "British context" is that for self-important intellectual masturbators in Britain, transphobia is regarded as "brave truth telling that should be rewarded" and on BlueSky that same transphobia will get you yelled at and socially ostracized. That's what she's complaining about.

I saw someone last night accuse Jemima of being a "crypto booster". This seemed odd given how lots of the crypto community despise her for critical columns, such as the one screenshotted below. I then realised that people had erroneously labelled her a crypto promoter in various block lists (8/11)

So you're arguing not for a right to speak, but for a right to force people to listen. Bluesky is as much of an echo chamber as you make it. There are plenty of conservative voices here. What there aren't many of are trolls, and that's because Bluesky recognizes no right to force people to listen.

Here to engage with you!

A lot of British people on the left like me moved here over a year ago when it became clear how deeply Musk was going to impose his ideological position. We live in very different worlds in the same country.

I do not feel obliged to engage with anyone I don't want to engage with, and in the same way that I will put on my noise cancelling headphones for some lairy man at a bus stop, I will do the digital equivalent here. I already live in a world full of sexist right-wingers, thanks.

Anyhow, nobody is going to subscribe to your website for posh cunts by shaming us into, IDK, letting the Nazis back in our lives and conversations. We will just never take the Financial Times seriously. Not that I did before.

We're literally just going back to ignoring dickheads like you before Leon took over the other site you seem to think isn't fulla Nazis nobody wants to advertise to. Just talk like this in person and try not to get shouted at. It's not an echo chamber, you've just normalized being a fascist online.

You don’t have to say ‘British’ every time you can just say ‘bad’

I mostly agree with your defense of the piece and criticisms of Bluesky's reaction, but if you can deny the unintended hilarity of "Stokes Newington Drinks Party" I'm not sure the internet is the place for you. It's amazing. Making fun of something like that should binds all of humanity

Nobody should have to know 😭

Don't you think tons of people not getting her snooty British references suggests this place isn't exactly the echo chamber she assumed?

Her references about posh dinner parties aren't British references, they're well off London journo ones.

oh, we are all too aware that the recent influx brings along quite a few of knife crime island's lowest-density éminences blanc; that's the thing, ennit, we don't much care for TERFs or the hard-of-thinking

Surely Jemima is a well-known name in the US (not one without controversy though)?

And look, I know TERFism is mainstream in the UK, but it is considered vile in pretty much everywhere else.

I reckon some people are coming here like scout ants, and like scout ants, you have to make the place unwelcoming to them, or they bring the entire nest with them and they eat through the foundations of the whole house!

To be fair, that’s the only point I agree with him on. Americans do use insular American references to worldwide audiences all the time, but we just can’t be arsed to mock you for it.

But if the argument the two of you are advancing is "non-British readers should avoid the Financial Times at all costs," well, keep at it. You're doing great.

"We should have a town square, not a walled garden" "This is just for me mates" Ok, Chief.

STFU you Nazi tosser. We're here too and we get it. She's another TERF witch with a lady boner for 70-year-olds that shit themselves. You're a dishonest prick.

Ironic also that the neoliberal behemoths completely fail to understand that their 'Markets' god is just another face of Demos, the people.

again, not irony. swing and a miss

See, I'd be interested in reading a treatment of that point, because I very much disagree -- not about BlueSky, per se, but about the desirability of a "digital town square", which I think is in fact deeply undesirable.

It amuses me that this never seems to get addressed by anyone defending the "twitter is the town hall" bullshit.

I'm so sick of people with no skin in the game when it comes to schools of thoughts that are threats to marginalized groups existence arguing that letting those ideas out into the open is actually good for everyone.

which is it, 'theoretical' -- that is, never existed -- or 'no longer exists' my goodness you self-congratulatory bin of wankers seem incapable of the most trivial mentation as everyone else has the 'be more explicit' bit handled in regards you, i shan't bother

The assumption that BlueSky is a walled garden is being made without support both by you and by her. Her article doesn't explicitly state it but the only reason she mentions is that Nazi content isn't tolerated. So that's what people latched into. If that wasn't meant that's just poor writing.

From your long screed that is clearly arguing that far-right extremists need to be listened to, it is clear you work for the Fascist Times. No decent person is interested in hearing your opinion on anything Nazi appeaser.

I kinda think #1 does need explanation

2) There were pillories, beatings, excommunications and other regulations that made those town squares nazi-proof, unless the town liked nazis, then they were jew-proof. Never in human history has there been a public venue where people were not disciplined for unpleasant views and attitudes.

1) There were no other communication tools to speak of. No phones, no cars. The town square was the only place to see people you don't already know.

“Some people prefer a more enjoyable social media experience to a digital town square where they have to see engagement farmers posting videos of people getting killed as well as actual Nazis saying Hitler was right”. Damn bro, you got me with that one.

But you can argue everyone who prefers X to Bsky must also be aware of the risk of being exposed to racist content. So the same 'logic' could and presumably should be applied to all of those people too.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-BV...